2022 NCAA Tournament bracketology: January 18 projection

To get a sense of the parity throughout college basketball this season (which should lead to an especially entertaining NCAA tournament), consider this: On Saturday, nine teams ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 lost, including seven that fell to unranked teams.

Gonzaga, Auburn and Arizona remain in solid position for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament at the moment. Purdue earned the final slot on the top seed line this week by virtue of its dramatic double-overtime victory at Illinois on Monday. Kansas is right on its heels, as is Baylor, which uncharacteristically has suffered back-to-back losses at home.

In another development, keep an eye on a couple of non-Power 5 leagues west of the Mississippi: the West Coast Conference and the Mountain West Conference. Clearly Gonzaga is a strong national title contender again. But beyond that, there is considerable depth that should result in a bevy of berths. It’s not out of the question for the two leagues to combine for eight tournament bids.

As the season continues to take shape, come back each Tuesday for our latest projection of what the 2022 NCAA Tournament field will look like on “Selection Sunday” (which is March 13, by the way).

Note: Teams projected to be conference champs are in bold type, with the conference listed.

1 seeds

Gonzaga (West Coast)
Auburn (SEC)
Arizona (Pac-12)
Purdue (Big Ten)

2 seeds

Kansas (Big 12)
Baylor
Duke (ACC)
Wisconsin

3 seeds

LSU
Michigan State
Houston (American)
UCLA

4 seeds

Villanova (Big East)
USC
Kentucky
Illinois

5 seeds

Iowa State
Texas Tech
Providence
Xavier

6 seeds

UConn
Ohio State
Tennessee
Texas

7 seeds

Loyola (Missouri Valley)
Alabama
Seton Hall
San Diego State (Mountain West)

8 seeds

BYU
Colorado State
Marquette
Iowa

9 seeds

Davidson (Atlantic 10)
West Virginia
Murray State (Ohio Valley)
North Carolina

10 seeds

Oklahoma
Indiana
San Francisco
Mississippi State

11 seeds

Iona (Metro Atlantic)
Belmont
Saint Mary’s
Wake Forest

12 seeds

Miami
Louisiana Tech (Conference USA)
UAB/Boise State
Wyoming/TCU

13 seeds

Grand Canyon (WAC)
South Dakota State (Summit)
Chattanooga (Southern)
Ohio (MAC)

14 seeds

Vermont (America East)
UNC Wilmington (Colonial)
Oakland (Horizon)
Wagner (Northeast)

15 seeds

Navy (Patriot)
Princeton (Ivy)
Liberty (Atlantic Sun)
Cal State Fullerton (Big West)

16 seeds

Troy (Sun Belt)
Winthrop (Big South)
Texas A&M Corpus Christi (Southland)/Alcorn State (SWAC)
Norfolk State (MEAC)/Weber State (Big Sky)

Sites for the 2022 NCAA Tournament are listed here.